


Twenty-Three Candles

by PhoenixDowner



Series: Aerith Week 2021 [1]
Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997)
Genre: Aerith Week, Aerith Week 2021, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family, Found Family, Friendship, Gen, Gen Work, Grief/Mourning, Hope, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-13 05:35:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29273334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhoenixDowner/pseuds/PhoenixDowner
Summary: When Aerith was growing up, Elmyra had only one wish: that Aerith would have friends who would celebrate her birthday with her. After Meteorfall, those friends come to pay Elmyra a visit.
Relationships: Aerith Gainsborough & Elmyra Gainsborough
Series: Aerith Week 2021 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2151864
Comments: 6
Kudos: 11





	Twenty-Three Candles

So much about Aerith was still a mystery to Elmyra. The true nature of the Ancients, the first seven years of her young life, the full extent of her powers… 

But even mysterious children who had escaped from facilities had birthdays, and Elmyra wanted to give her adopted daughter the celebration she deserved. 

“Aerith, when’s your birthday?” she asked as the two of them ate dinner one cold wintry night. Chicken and carrots and potatoes, freshly-baked bread with butter and honey, simple and hearty and warm. 

Aerith replied without missing a beat. “February 7th.”

“That’s coming up soon, but I’m sure I can make the arrangements.”

“Arrangements for what?” Aerith asked, tilting her head. 

“For your birthday party, of course.” 

Aerith’s little fist clenched her fork. “Birthday party? I don’t want a birthday party.”

“Why not?”

This was not the reaction Elmyra had been expecting. Most children Aerith’s age loved birthday parties. Had she just stumbled upon another piece of the puzzle that was Aerith’s past? Aerith was normally so talkative. But her trauma was like layers of an onion, and it had to be peeled back slowly and carefully, and only when she was ready. Elmyra waited patiently for her answer; it was no use pushing and prodding her daughter before she was ready.

“I don’t want the people from the facility coming,” Aerith said at last. 

“Trust me, they’re not invited,” Elmyra said dryly, thinking back to that sharply-dressed man named Tseng who had shown up at their doorstep one day. “They’re the last people I’d want to be here.” 

Aerith relaxed, but Elmyra couldn’t help but frown. Anything that reminded Aerith of the time she and her mother had spent in the facility put her on edge, especially if the question of her heritage came up. Elmyra was convinced she was an Ancient like Tseng had said, but Aerith always denied it. 

“What about your classmates at school?” Elmyra said, studying Aerith’s face for a reaction. “We could invite some of them.”

Aerith shook her head. “They don’t like me. They think I’m weird.”

It pained Elmyra that the other children were so aloof towards Aerith. They didn’t bully her, Aerith’s teachers made sure of that much at least, but they kept their distance. Elmyra could only guess that Aerith had accidentally let her powers slip in an attempt to help someone, and it had weirded the other kids out. 

“How about this, then,” Elmyra said. “We have a birthday celebration, just the two of us.”

Aerith finally smiled, and it was like a little sun was lighting up the room. “I’d like that.”

Still, when the big day arrived, Elmyra couldn’t help but hope that someday, somewhere, Aerith would have friends to celebrate with. Sure, Aerith was happy and smiling and chattering away like always, a party hat perched on her head, but she needed other people in her life too. She needed friends.

As Elmyra set the butter cake on the kitchen table with its eight flickering candles, she told Aerith to make a wish. 

“A wish?”

“It’s like a prayer, but not quite.” Elmyra explained. “It has to stay secret, or it won’t come true. Something you really, really want to happen.”

Aerith clasped her hands together and closed her eyes, her lips moving silently. Elmyra wondered what Aerith was praying for, and on a whim she decided to join in. 

_Please, let my daughter have friends. People who will love and support her, no matter what._

When Elmyra opened her eyes again, Aerith was smiling. “You made a wish too, didn’t you?”

“I did. And now you should blow out the candles.”

Aerith took a deep breath and got every single candle with one big puff. The smoke drifted through the air, and the cake smelled so good. Elmyra was grateful she’d gotten her hands on a stick of butter; food shortages were still widespread under the plate. 

“What did you wish for, Mommy?” Aerith asked, her eyes sparkling.

“I can’t tell you. It’s a secret, remember?”

Aerith brought her finger to her lips and made a shushing noise. Elmyra couldn’t help but smile. Aerith was the light of her life, and fate had brought them together when they needed each other most. 

And then, one cruel day, fate tore her daughter away from her. Tore her away for good and left Elmyra alone in this empty world. Aerith always used to say that people returned to the planet when they died; Elmyra could only hope Aerith was at peace, wherever she was.

February 7th, which once brought Elmyra such joy, was painful now. Aerith would be twenty-three, _should_ be twenty-three, and her death stung especially hard today. The reminders were everywhere, some of them self-inflicted. Elmyra had hired Cloud’s delivery service to take flowers to the Forgotten City, as Aerith deserved to be remembered with the flowers she so dearly loved in life. 

Kalm’s name, fitting for the sleepy little village it used to be, was now an ironic moniker. Refugees from Meteorfall had taken shelter here, and the town hadn’t been able to expand fast enough to contain everyone. While the new city “Edge” was being built to the east of the remains of Midgar, there were still quite a few people here. Elmyra remained at the home of her relatives, and they did their best to comfort her. It was just that nothing could replace Aerith’s presence in her life. 

She was flipping through an old photo album with pictures of Aerith throughout the years when there was a knock on the door. Who could that be? It was getting late, and she wasn’t expecting company. Her relatives were on a trip right now for supplies, and—

“Elmyra?” came a voice through the door. Elmyra knew that voice; knew it and knew what it meant. A moment later, she opened the door, and standing there was Tifa, bless her, holding a birthday cake crowded with candles. Cloud and Barret were here too, bearing presents, and so was little Marlene.

Tears filled Elmyra’s eyes at the sight before her; she’d thought she’d have to spend Aerith’s birthday alone, but no. She wasn’t alone. Aerith’s friends were here, looking out for Elmyra even after Aerith was gone.

“May we come in?” Tifa asked, and Elmyra nodded and held the door open for them. They made themselves right at home, Tifa asking for a knife to cut the cake with, Barret searching for a lighter. Cloud, Elmyra noticed, quietly sat at the table and listened to Marlene happily chatter away, but it meant the world to her that he was here. 

_Thank you, Aerith. Thank you for sending your friends to comfort me._

Marlene attempted to get a party hat on Cloud’s head and had to settle for it going over one of his spikes. Next were Tifa and Barret’s hats, and at last she handed Elmyra a bright green hat. 

“For you. Thank you for taking care of me when Daddy was gone.” 

“Of course,” Elmyra said, seeing something of Aerith in Marlene’s smiling face. She even wore her hair in a pink bow now. “Why don’t you blow out the candles?”

Elmyra realized now that there were twenty-three candles. Twenty-three, because Aerith would be turning twenty-three today. No, not would be, _was_.

“We have to make a wish first though, right?” Marlene said.

Elmyra nodded. “That’s right. But you can’t tell anyone what you wish for, or it won’t come true.” 

As Marlene blew out the candles, Elmyra couldn’t help but tear up again. She thought of that wish she’d made for Aerith’s eighth birthday, fulfilled here today, and knew her daughter was watching over the little group gathered here. She’d gone on ahead of them to protect them and watch over them, but a part of her remained in their hearts.

She would always remain in their hearts.

“Thank you, Aerith. Happy Birthday.”

**Author's Note:**

> Aerith means a lot to me, and something that really moves me about her story is how much she supports and reaches out to the people she loves no matter what. I was thinking about how she might comfort Elmyra, and thus the idea for this fic was born. Thank you for reading!


End file.
